


Deck The Halls

by CavalierRick



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: ...kinda i guess XD, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 08:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17158634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierRick/pseuds/CavalierRick
Summary: It's been far too long since Jack has properly enjoyed Christmas. Luckily Tim has enough Christmas spirit for the two of them.





	Deck The Halls

**Author's Note:**

> heyyy merry christmas to likikoari-home, i hope that you like your present :3 its a bit rushed so im sorry about how short it is ;O; i hope its okay ahahaha XD i heard "jackothy" and my brain went "ah, cheesy christmas fluff? got it" pfff

The same five songs have been playing over and over for what seems like a goddamn eternity.

Jack is absolutely sick of his boyfriend's “holiday cheer” by now if he's honest, only putting up with it for Tim's sake. Half of the penthouse has already been absolutely smothered with decorations, tinsel and garland and strings of lights all over the place which Timothy has been tirelessly working to perfect. He's still working on the dining room, the place where the cheery holiday tunes are playing from now, and although Jack _is_ kind of excited to see how it'll all turn out once his boyfriend has finished, it's starting to get infuriating. Christmas is apparently Tim's favorite holiday secondary to Halloween, which he also went all out for earlier this year, and the younger man seems to get overzealous rather easily. He's an excitable person, and Jack usually loves it, but all of the forced, fake “happiness” of Christmas has quickly started to get under his skin.

Granted, not everything about the holiday is bad; Jack absolutely loves having any and every excuse to be able to splurge money, especially when it's money spent on Tim. The younger man is somewhat averse to being pampered, but seeing as how Jack is unimaginably wealthy and intractably stubborn, there's very little chance of stopping him. He would much rather it be on Valentine's Day— a holiday that Jack much prefers for obvious reasons— but with how excited Tim gets about Christmas, it seems like a much better excuse to spend millions of dollars in one go.

It takes a while for it to well and truly get under Jack's skin, but eventually the droning of the TV can no longer properly distract him from the obnoxiously cheery tunes from the other room. He doesn't want to ruin his body double's holiday cheer— that's the only reason that he's put up with it as long as he has— but he can really only stand those played out tunes for so long before he starts to get antsy and frustrated with it. If it had been anyone else blasting those awful songs, he would have snapped about a half hour ago and spaced them, but instead it's been two full hours before he's finally had enough.

When Jack opens the door to the dining room, he can't help but forget about his annoyance for just a moment as he watches his boyfriend sway side to side in time with “Jingle Bell Rock” as he hangs ornaments on a rather garish fake white Christmas tree. The thing has been strung with bright red sparkling garland to make it look almost like a candy cane, various kinds of red and pink ornaments hung on the branches. It looks beautiful really, Jack thinks. Tim has put a lot of work into the decorations, but still the older man can't help the new surge of annoyance that floods him.

“Oh my god, when are you gonna turn that crap off?” Jack's tone comes out much harsher than he had intended, making Tim jump in surprise as he spins around in shock. He has a goofy but nervous grin on his face, still holding a pretty little glittery ornament in his hands. For a moment Jack can't help but smile in return, his annoyance venting from him, but his face falls into a frown again when the song switches to the song We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Of course it just has to be the song that he hates the most. Jack lets out a pained groan and turns towards the sound system where the offending noise is coming from, switching it off without breaking eye contact with Tim.

A heavy sigh escapes the double and he starts to fiddle with the ornament in his hand, looking absolutely crestfallen. “Really, Jack?” He can't keep the disappointment out of his voice, and as he looks up he sees his boyfriend giving him a quizzical look. “Come on, just for once can't you unwind and have fun with me? I've been decorating this whole place alone all day.” He turns to hang the ornament on one of the boughs of the plastic tree before sauntering up to Jack and wrapping him up in a tight hug. “It gets lonely, being excited about this stuff all by myself.”

Jack lets out a quiet little hum, wrapping his arms around Tim in turn and nuzzling into his hair. Yeah the music is awful, their tree is gaudy and his boyfriend's awful sweater is a scratchy, sparkly mess of red, white and green yarn, but he can't deny that there is something truly heartwarming about Tim's love of the holiday. He pulls away after a long moment before turning back towards the sound system and going to switch it back on.

It takes the older man by surprise when his boyfriend catches him by the wrist. “No no, you don't have to do that,” he assures Jack, giving him a wide smile. “Put on some music _you_ like, if you want, and let's get to work.” At that, he turns away and goes to start pulling garland out of a box of decorations, thick fluffy strings of green needles dotted with tiny red blossoms of poinsettias. Jack seems surprised at just how enthusiastic his boyfriend has gotten, beaming at Jack as he seems to almost radiate energy.

Sure, Jack will admit to himself that it is a _little_ fun, dressing up the dining room and hanging garland and stockings all around their hardly-used fake fireplace. The room seems more and more cozy by the moment, especially when he actually turns on the fireplace's LED screen which bathes the room in artificial firelight. It's beautiful, really, especially when the holographic display that covers the windows is reprogrammed to show a snowy planetside vista instead of the inky void of space that actually surrounds the station.

It's been years since Jack has had the opportunity to just sit down and truly enjoy Christmas time. For most of his life, the events of Christmas were simply something which took place in the background, never to be focused on because it was too much of a distraction. Hell, he hadn't even _known_ about Christmas until he was well into his teenage years. It's still rather foreign to him, really, being involved in all of this holiday cheer. His only real experience with Christmas before this was...

...With his wife.

_And with Angel._

The thought gives him a little jolt of pain, fists clenching around the garland in his hand before he heaves a sigh and forces himself to relax enough to lay it down gently on the table. He casts a glance over to Tim, who luckily hasn't seemed to notice as he's too busy fiddling with hiding the electric chord which plugs the lights on their tree into the power outlet.

The second he turns around and sees the look on Jack's face, though, Tim's eyes widen and he immediately knows that something is wrong. There's a beat where the double can only frown, obviously concerned, and before Jack can start to insist that he's fine Tim is already moving towards him and pulling him into a tight hug.

“Quit it,” the older man huffs, though he wraps his arms around his boyfriend in turn and lets out a quiet sigh. “Look, don't get all sappy, okay? I'm f–“

“You are not fine.” Tim's tone is surprisingly stern, and he pulls back to look Jack in the eyes, squinting at him incredulously. “Jack, every time you get like this you slink off and hide in your office for weeks at a time. I know you by now. You aren't okay. I saw that _look_ in your eyes just now; you obviously aren't 'fine.'” He gently brings a hand to cup Jack's face, slowly stroking a thumb over the older man's cheek bone, his expression softening into a tender smile. “Talk to me, Jack. Please.”

It seems to take a moment, but Jack is eventually won over. “Fine,” he acquiesces, pulling out a chair for each of them at the dining table and sitting down with his partner. “Listen, I don't want you worrying about me. Just...” He huffs quietly. “Christmas time is hard for me, alright? You're the first real reason I've had to celebrate the holidays in a _long_ time, Tim. For most of my life it's been about showing off how much money I have and getting drunk on boozy eggnog. This is just... foreign to me, actually trying to get into the 'spirit' of things. You're just _so_ excited about it and...” He pauses and heaves a sigh. “The last person in my life who was this excited about Christmas was Angel.”

Tim is taken aback, so much so that he flinches in surprise. Jack _never_ talks about Angel. Not to anyone, even him. This, though... it explains a lot. It isn't just that Jack is too uptight and doesn't want to have fun, as Tim had initially thought, and the real reasoning actually gives the younger man a little pang of sympathy. He can't help but feel a bit guilty for not considering sooner that that may be the case, and that guilt is only doubled as he watches Jack start to study the wood grain on the top of the table they sit at so that he doesn't have to look Tim in the eyes.

Before he can really even think through his words, Tim starts talking, hands seeking out Jack's and closing tight around them. “I didn't realize,” he tries, his voice wavering slightly as he's overtaken by anxiety. “I didn't even consider that that might be the reason. I-I won't play any more of those Christmas songs if it's too much for you. We can just forget all of this, actually, if you want to. I-I can take all the decorations down, actually! A-and this stupid sweater!” He frantically goes to pull his horrible knit sweater off of him, but Jack catches his wrist.

There's a small, gentle smile on the older man's face as Tim looks back up to him. It's only when Jack presses a swift kiss to the double's lips that he actually relaxes, the mounting panic venting from him as Jack assures him that it's okay.

“You don't have to quit celebrating Christmas, Tim,” he assures his boyfriend. He seems almost sheepish as he considers his next words. “It's kind of... _helping_ me, actually, in a weird way. It's comforting to have that kind of _joy_ back in my life.”

Of all the things Tim had been expecting, that wasn't one of them. He's glad to hear it, of course, that he's somehow able to help his partner but...

“It's been a long time since you've really been happy, huh?” The words are out of Tim's mouth before he's fully thought through them. It's presumptuous of him to say, maybe, but he knows that he's right, especially when Jack snorts in laughter and nods.

“It really has,” the older man admits, letting out a sigh, though he can't help but smile. “It's why I'm so glad I have you.” He groans and shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Wow, that was _way_ too cheesy of me.” He looks up at Tim, almost embarrassed, and slowly reaches to take the double's hand in his own.

“I love you.”

Jack lets out a chuckle at his boyfriend's words, his face flushing around the corners of his mask. “Yeah yeah, merry Christmas to you too.”

 


End file.
